Imagine cutting into your watermelon to find it, not red inside, but yellow! Yellow watermelon has similarities to the red variety you’re probably more common with. However, its color is not one of them.
Yellow watermelon is sweeter than red watermelon. It also has a more delicate texture and tastes a little like honey.
Yellow watermelon should not be confused with a bad red watermelon that has turned somewhat yellow and white inside. Yellow watermelon is a natural variety of watermelon that occurred due to a non-engineered mutation.
On the outside, the yellow watermelon looks identical to the red variety. The only way to know for sure which one you’ve got, it’s to cut it open and check.
What is Yellow Watermelon
Yellow watermelon is regular watermelon, but without lycopene, the pigment that gives watermelon its color. It’s also what gives tomatoes their red color too.
This lack of lycopene is due to a natural genetic mutation that happened in the watermelon around 4000 years ago.
Its signature yellow color can be more or less intense depending on how ripe they are when harvested. However, the color variation between yellows does not change their flavor.
Yellow vs Red Watermelon
There are some other flavor and texture differences between yellow and red watermelons.
How Sweet is Too Sweet
While yellow watermelons are sweeter than their red counterparts, they are not overly so. They can be added to fruit salad to help balance out the sweeter fruits, such as pears and apples.
Crispness
Yellow watermelons are somewhat softer and denser than the red variety. Red watermelon will be crunchier in texture. However, your yellow watermelon should not be mushy.
On the Vine
While originally sour and turning sweet as it ripens, red watermelons undergo significant changes while on the vine. Yellow watermelon, however, does not change its flavor much as it grows. This helps make it sweeter than the red watermelon as it doesn’t have any sourness to begin with.
Can You Eat Yellow and Red Watermelon Together
Red and yellow watermelon complement each other nicely. They have just enough variety to taste and feel the difference, but not so different that they clash.
How to Find Yellow Watermelon
If you’d like to try this sweeter, denser watermelon, it’s likely you’ll have to search around. It’s not quite as ubiquitous as red watermelons in the supermarket. Your best bet might be a healthy food store or a farmer’s market.
If you do find some, try to save some to make sure it lasts for a while.
To Sum Up
Yellow watermelons aren’t so different from the red variety. While a little sweeter and a little denser, you’ll definitely know you’re eating a watermelon.
If you’re looking for an even sweeter treat, try to find a seedless yellow watermelon.
